Keselowski Earns Front Row Start at Richmond

April 25, 2014

RICHMOND, Va. (April 25, 2014) – Severe thunderstorms rolled over the Richmond International Raceway late this afternoon, resulting in qualifying for Saturday’s Toyota Owners 400 being canceled. Due to the rain out, the starting lineup for Saturday’s 400-lap Sprint Cup Series race was set per the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rule book, which calls for the starting lineup to be based off of the times from Friday’s first practice session.

Brad Keselowski and the No. 2 Detroit Genuine Parts Ford Fusion team will start Saturday’s race from the second position. This marks Keselowski’s sixth front row start of the 2014 season.

“We have been keeping the trend of starting up toward the front, and that is something I am really happy about,” said Keselowski. “Pit road selection is important as it is always a track position battle but probably more so than ever here this weekend. We did some runs and felt like traffic would slow our car down. The Penske cars have been strong all season, and I am proud of that. My teammate is especially strong this weekend, and I think he will be one of the guys to beat. Hopefully we can get right there with him and get a solid race and a win. Richmond hasn’t always been the best race track for us so we would like to get the finish we have been capable of and just haven’t put together. We would still like to qualify and have a shot at the pole, but we foresaw this coming and put a little extra emphasis in the practice sessions to get a good run out of it and a good spot, and I am glad to see that kind of panned out for us.”

Despite turning in the fourth quickest time in the second practice in mock qualifying trim, Keselowski’s Penske teammate Joey Logano and the No. 22 Shell-Pennzoil Ford Fusion team will roll off from the 17th position.

The Toyota Owners 400 will air live tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. ET on Fox TV, as well on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR radio channel 90.